STUDY ON THE REMOVAL OF AMMONIA IN WASTEWATER USING ADSORBENT PREPARED FROM RICE HULL WITH MAGNESIUM OXIDE MODIFICATION

Abstract

This study is aimed to evaluate the ability of magnesium oxide-coated carbonized rice hull (MCRH) material for ammonium removal in synthetic and real domestic wastewater. The MCRH material was prepared using waste rice hull from a household rice-processing factory and magnesium chloride salt via a simple mixing and annealing method. The material was then characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The effects of magnesium chloride modification and environmental condition such as initial ammonium concentration (20 – 100 mg/L), amount of adsorbent (0.8 –2.0 g/L), and adsorption time (0 –32 h) on the ammonium removal efficiency and adsorption capacity were investigated. Adsorption kinetic and isotherms were also studied for MCRH material. Results showed that magnesium oxide was successfully coated on carbonized rice hull with Mg/C molar ratio of 0.22. Ammonium adsorption isotherm fitted well to Langmuir model with maximum adsorption capacity of 65.36 mg/g. The adsorption was physical process and adsorption kinetic was best described by intra-particle diffusion model with the correlation coefficients ranged from 0.942 – 0.979. Ammonium removal feasibility of MCRH was proved through the treatment of real domestic wastewater containing 80.7±1.6 mg/L initial ammonia concentration with removal efficiency reached 86.8% and the effluent concentration met the allowable value (10 mg/L) as given by QCVN 14 : 2008/BTNMT (column B) - National technical regulation on domestic wastewater. Hence MCRH is potential as a cheap and abundant material in Vietnam and the material after adsorption accumulated ammonium would be the source of fertilizer for soil quality improvement.